IMPLEMENTATION OF EMU

Details

05 July 2000

Hudghton (Greens/EFA) - Mr President, I welcome this opportunity to give a view from the outside, from Scotland, for the time being part of the UK, where our diet of information about the euro is dominated by a rather lukewarm and unconvincing approach on the part of the Labour government and an almost hysterically anti-euro rhetoric on the part of the Conservatives. In contrast my party – the Scottish National Party – recently reaffirmed our position of support in principle for entry to the euro currency and we are not afraid to promote that view. Scotland's traders, from fish processors to farmers, from manufacturers to the tourism sector, are being forced to compete with one hand tied behind their backs.Mr Karas acknowledges a high level of support for the euro but also some shortcomings in the provision of information within the euro zone and I support his ideas for addressing that problem. But in particular I welcome the fact that this strategy also addresses those Member States not yet taking part in monetary union, since of course we will be affected whether we join in or remain out. I call on the UK and Scottish governments to play a full part in that campaign.